4. Research, development, and technology – 1940s-1970s
Increased agricultural production around the world
New view for ag.- commercial sector than a subsistence
one
India Famine –plant breeding, irrigation,
agrochemicals…
“Saving a billion people from starvation”
 High-yielding varieties of cereal grains
 Expansion of irrigation infrastructure
 Modernization of management techniques
 Distribution of hybrid seeds
 Synthetic fertilizers and pesticides

5.  Semi-dwarf allowed countries
like Mexico and India to be
self-sufficient
 Yields of rice and wheat
doubled
 Higher profits allowed farmers
to expand
 Instead of widespread famine,
cereal and calorie availability
per person increased by 30%
 Wheat & rice cheaper
 Raised farmer’s income
 Stimulated rural nonfarm
economy – less poor families
 Better nutrition
 Depletion of groundwater
 Increased monocultures
 Excessive and inappropriate
use of fertilizers & pesticides
 Increased income inequality
and asset distribution
 Owners of large farms were
main adopters of new
technologies (access to
irrigation, fertilizers, seeds,
and credit)
 Small farmers unaffected or
harmed – lower product
prices, higher input prices…
 Worsened absolute poverty?

6. Pre Revolution – Indian farmers grew diverse food
crops
With new machinery, chemical pesticides and
fertilizers, and hybrid seeds = now planted cash crops
for export rather than local food consumption
Ex: Cotton – India opened its seed sector to
international agribusiness (small farmers competing
with giant cotton plantations and seed corporations)

7. What would have been the magnitude
of hunger and poverty without the yield
increases of the Green Revolution and
with the same population growth?
How does this relate to what’s
happening today with genetically
modified foods? Green Revolution II?

11. Easing of world hunger?
Development of crops that
can be grown in marginal
soil
Reduced strain on
nonrenewable resources?
- Drought resistant crops
- Salt-tolerant crops
- Crops that make more
efficient use of nitrogen
and other nutrients

12. Reduced use of pesticides
and herbicides?
► Development of pest
resistant crops
► Reduced herbicide use is
better for the environment
and reduces costs for
farmers

13. Improved crop quality?
 Frost resistant crops
 Disease resistant crops
 Flood resistant crops
Improved nutritional quality?
 Development of foods
designed to meet specific
nutritional goals

14. In 2002, Monsanto “came to the
rescue” with higher-tech seeds than
hybrid seeds from Green
Revolution = GE Bt Cotton
“Miracle Seeds” would bring pest
resistance and higher yields
Heavily marketed in India with film
stars and religious deities
4-10 times more expensive than
hybrid seeds
GE “terminators” – seeds had to be
repurchased every season

15. Bt cotton required more pesticides spraying than
indigenous cotton
Created new resistant pests – farmers were using 13 times
more pesticides = more costs
Yields are low – Monsanto claims 1500kg per year but
farmers were getting only 300-400 kg per year
Crop failures are common – farming no longer financially
sustainable (can’t compete with cheap subsidized cotton)
 1994 – 1 lb of raw cotton = $1.10
 2006 – 1 lb of raw cotton = $0.54
“GM Genocide” – In 2009 alone, 17,638 Indian farmers
committed suicide

16. Vandana Shiva ‘s The Violence of the Green Revolution: the non-sustainability of
chemical industrial agriculture and the unproductivity of chemical monocultures.

17. Frankenfoods
Monarch butterfly
Honeybees
StarLink corn tacos
GMO Canola
GMO Salmon
GMO Wheat

20. Threatened by pollen in GMO maize
Rapid rise of crops engineered
to withstand herbicides
Monarchs lay their eggs on
milkweed / caterpillars feed on
milkweed
Milkweed thrives on edges of corn fields
Roundup Ready – farmers used regularly without
worrying about impact on RR crops
Milkweed plunged 58%; Monarch egg production
decreased by 81%

21. Feb 2013 - 1500 colonies of honey bees disappear in Mexico
CCD – Colony Collapse Disorder
Monoculture fields of GMO Bt corn inoculated with
pesticide called neonicoticoids (neurotoxins)
 Disrupts their ability to learn, remember, and find their way
back to the hive
 Coat 142 million acres of corn, wheat, soy and cotton seed
and common ingredients in home gardening products
 Contaminate the pollen and nectar
Monocultures also fragment natural food supply
2006 - 30% of US bee population disappeared and bees
were imported; happening annually ever since

22. Bt – bacteria lives in the soil &
naturally produces a toxin
Bt corn – pesticide in pollen
2000 StarLink Bt corn designed
for stock feed
Found in Taco Bell taco shells
Not approved for human
consumption
Kraft recalled all taco shells
Ex. of lack of control to monitor
modified corps entering food supply

23. Soybean and Canola
Concern that plants engineered to
withstand weed killers = super bugs
& super weeds
Traditionally, farmers saved portion
of seeds for next year’s crop
Growers using GE / RR crops must
sign a contract agreeing not to save or reuse seeds
Court decisions have supported Monsanto’s right to
prevent farmers from saving patented seeds

25. DNA genetically modified to
produce growth hormones
for its entire life
Grow at much faster rate than
wild salmon
FDA approved for human
consumption in US
AquAdvantage – grow 2x rate
Fear – interbreeding with natural salmon
Claims fish is sterile – only 95% actually sterile
Available at grocery store by end of year

26. 2013 – farmer sprays Roundup and finds green wheat
stalks
Monsanto never asked for government approval to sell
GMO wheat – growing it would violate the law
Tested positive as GMO wheat at Oregon State
If rogue genes are present in America’s wheat harvest –
Japan, Korea, and other customers
say they won’t take it (millions of
dollars)
Monsanto claims anti-biotech
activists stole the wheat and
staged it as sabotage

28. Map indicating which states have pending GMO labeling bills or
upcoming ballot initiatives. Credit: Right to Know.

34. Is supporting Organic standards
the solution?
• USDA regulations allow food products that contain 95100% certified organic ingredients
• Prohibit chemical fertilizers, synthetic substances,
irradiation, sewer sludge or GMOs in production
• Prohibit antibiotic and synthetic hormone use in
organic meat and poultry
• Require 100% organic feed for
organic livestock
• Labeled “100% organic,” “organic,”
or just “made with organic
ingredients,” non-organic
ingredients cannot be produced
from GMOs

36. Is Education the Key?

37. DEBATE TIME!